Several Turkish military officers and diplomats who’ve been serving at the Turkish Embassy in Oslo have defected and sought political asylum in Norway. Newspaper VG reported Thursday, January 12 night that they all fear being imprisoned and mistreated if they return home to Turkey.

The officers had served in Norway until last fall, according to VG, when they refused to follow orders to return to Turkey for “conversations” with military leaders following a military coup attempt in July.

The diplomats and officers flatly deny they had any involvement with the failed coup, which has resulted in the arrests and imprisonment of more than 100,000 people in what’s been likened to a purge of potential political opponents carried out by Turkey’s authoritarian president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Among those under arrest and believed to face torture as well are lawyers, judges, police and military officers and other public sector workers.

One of the men who’s now seeking asylum in Norway told VG that it was “impossible to return now” to Turkey. He said he had been dismissed by the Turkish military and his passport was cancelled. “If I travel back, I will immediately be arrested and I risk torture and being forced to make false statements,” he told VG. “In Turkish prisons, people die for unknown reasons.”

Another officer now seeking exile in Norway said a colleague chose to travel home from Norway in an effort to clear his name of any charges. “He was arrested at passport control at the airport when he arrived in Turkey, and is still sitting in prison,” the officer told VG.